1. Field
The present disclosure generally relates to the transmission of information, and more particularly, to the transmission of notifications over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Businesses and governmental entities, including municipalities and schools, are ever more reliant on communicating through the mass transmission of notifications to their staff, citizens, and family members of students to keep these constituencies apprized of important events and emergencies. For example, a school principal might send a notification including a message “School will be closed tomorrow” to the parent of every child at the school because of an unforeseen event such as flooding, fire, or freezing conditions. Notifications with such messages might be sent by telephones, facsimiles, pagers, electronic mail (e-mail), and/or text messages. These notifications will typically vary in their degree of importance, in the number of recipients, or in the immediacy with which they must be sent.
There currently exists a growing problem as mass notification transmission systems become more prevalent. In particular, the number of potential recipients capable of receiving various notifications is consistently increasing, which results in an increasing need to specify notifications to their intended recipients. When the need to transmit a notification arises, it is difficult to provide accurate and up-to-date information for the recipient in the notification within the limited period of time often available for sending the notification. For example, if a school district decides in the morning to close all of its schools due to inclement weather, and a notification must be sent within one hour to all parents or guardians of students in the school district, it may be difficult to identify and select every intended recipient within the school district, and provide specific and accurate information for their respective schools within one hour.